I came into Junior year scared and unsure of what was about to come my way. I have always been told that this year is the most challenging and important year of High School, and on top of starting the IB program, I was genuinely nervous. I was nervous about keeping my grades up, starting an intimidating program, and being able to keep balance in my life. Nevertheless, my fears were put aside and reassurance from my classmates, teachers, and family took place; I was reminded that everything was going to be okay. Of course, I am still nervous about navigating the rest of IB and getting through college applications. But here I am, at the end of my Junior year, and I think, “Why did I ever think I could never do it?” As I reflect on this past year, I am very proud of myself for maintaining the balance that is so important to me between my in-school life and my out-of-school life. I was able to juggle my extracurricular activities like theater, TASP, babysitting, and working as an assistant director through Young People’s Theater while also putting in my best efforts at school. Going into my senior year, one of my goals is to maintain that much-needed balance in my life. As this school year comes to a close, I still can’t wrap my head around the idea that some of my best friends are graduating. What is even crazier is this final chapter of High School is about to begin for me. 

 

I am looking back on Junior year and there are so many projects I am proud of. But, I am going to focus on one particular unit in English that touched me in a different way than other assignments: reading, comprehending, and performing one of Shakespeare’s most famous works, Hamlet. Through this project, I was able to connect something I love, theater, to something that gives me a challenge. Understanding Shakespeare has always been difficult for me, and Hamlet was no different. I mean, come on, Shakespeare, a bunch of teenagers in the 21st Century are going to have some trouble understanding all that weird phrasing! Words like “thou” and “wherefore” do not register with me. In the past, I have majorly benefitted from performing the scenes so I could have a better understanding of what is happening in the play. Luckily, our class was fortunate enough to work with Colin Sullivan, who assisted by teaching us how to appropriately act out Shakespeare, and he helped us shape the scenes from the play into something that we all found a new value in.  

 

Bringing the scenes from the classroom to the stage with character development, props, costumes, and some sword fighting changed my learning experience to something I feel more comfortable with: performing. We began by reading scenes in the classroom, and then chose selected portions and monologues of the play that we wanted to perform in front of the school. Here is when we really got into working with Colin, as he taught us how to perform Shakespeare’s unique work. Through this entire experience, I was able to appreciate and enjoy the material more while slowly overcoming the challenges of reciting old-English. Some of my favorite parts of our performance was writing a modern rendition of a scene, watching my classmates sword fight with each other in medieval costumes, and getting multiple glasses of water and sparkling cranberry juice dumped on my face by the one and only, Samlet. Ultimately, I learned that even with challenging content, there are ways for it to adapt to ways that I can understand it, and that you can take something from the textbook and make it fun and interactive.